Dog bite

Is dog bite worse than usual anywhere?

At or below its usual in every country that reports it.

What is dog bite?

Dog bites injure tens of millions of people a year. The biggest danger is rabies, a virus in an infected animal's saliva that is almost always deadly once symptoms start.

Signs
A bite or scratch that breaks the skin. Rabies signs can appear weeks or months later: fever, tingling at the wound, then fear of water, confusion or paralysis.
How it spreads
Rabies passes through saliva, mostly from dog bites or scratches, or saliva getting into an open wound, eyes or mouth. Cats, bats and monkeys can also spread it.
How to protect yourself
Vaccinate pet dogs and cats against rabies. Stay away from stray dogs and never leave a child alone with any dog. Teach children how to behave around dogs.
Get medical help
Wash the wound with soap and running water for 15 minutes, then go to a health centre at once for rabies vaccine. Don't wait for symptoms; after that, it can't be cured.

In Dooram's words, from the World Health Organization. Source: WHO fact sheet: Animal bites, read 8 October 2026. General information, not medical advice.

Which districts are furthest above their usual?

39 districts are above usual.

Each district against itself. A large district always has more cases than a small one, so each is compared only with its own usual.

When does dog bite usually peak?

  • PakistanAround January: it peaked in December 2024 and February 2025.

What "usual" means.

Sources. Field Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Division, National Institutes of Health, Islamabad, weekly report.